Arsenal v West Ham United (2015-16)
| next = }} Arsenal v West Ham United was a match which took place at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday 9 August 2015. Arsenal's season started with defeat as West Ham won their first Premier League game under manager Slaven Bilić. Keeper Petr Cech misjudged Dimitri Payet's free-kick to allow Cheikhou Kouyaté to nod in the Hammers' first. After the break, Mauro Zárate finished from 20 yards after being gifted the ball by the Gunners defence. Arsenal had 62% of possession, but put just six of 22 shots on target as Aaron Ramsey's first-half effort against the bar was the closest they came. Gunners fans, who left the Emirates Stadium in large numbers before the final whistle, will feel like they have seen all this before, not just in the way their side performed, but also in the familiarity of their starting line-up. Cech's arrival from Chelsea has been Wenger's only summer signing since last term's third-place finish, and it was an uncharacteristic display from the experienced keeper. The 33-year-old was not only at fault for West Ham's opener, but was wrong-footed by Zarate's strike, although he received little help from his defence as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Francis Coquelin gave the ball away on the edge of their own area. Olivier Giroud frequently looked isolated up front, which will no doubt increase the hope among Arsenal supporters that a reported deal for Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema can be completed. Bilic, 46, replaced Sam Allardyce this summer and was handed a remit of getting the east London club playing 'the West Ham way' - a brand of football based around an attacking and entertaining approach. But the Hammers showed the battling qualities Bilic was renowned for during his spell as a defender with the club from 1996 to 1997. Reece Oxford, who became his side's youngest-ever Premier League player at the age of 16 years and 237 days, epitomised West Ham's fighting spirit, screening his defence superbly from midfield. Match Details Zárate | stadium = Emirates Stadium, London | attendance = 59,996 | referee = Martin Atkinson }} |valign="top"| |valign="top" width="50%"| |} The stats you need to know *West Ham ended a run of nine straight league defeats against Arsenal *They secured a first win at the Emirates since 2007, a game which was Arsenal's first defeat at their new ground *Arsenal have failed to score in four of their last five league games at home *Only Kevin De Bruyne (20) has delivered more assists than Dimitri Payet (18) in the top five European leagues since the start of last season *All three of Mauro Zárate's Premier League goals for West Ham have come away from home *Reece Oxford became the second-youngest player to start a Premier League game, after Jose Baxter (for Everton against West Brom in August 2008) See also *2015-16 Premier League: Match day 1 External links *Match report at BBC.co.uk Category:2015-16 Match Day info Category:Arsenal F.C. matches Category:West Ham United F.C. matches Category:2015–16 Premier League Matches